Video draw poker (also referred to as simply “video poker”) is a well known game. Video poker is typically conducted through an electronic device such as a personal computer, a hand-held device, or gaming machine. While there are variations on the rules and pay tables used to conduct video poker, most follow the same general procedure without regard to the platform used to conduct the game.
In conventional video poker, the player makes a wager. This could take the form of a player allocating stored game credits, depositing currency, tokens, coins, vouchers, or the like, allocating a portion of a deposit or credit balance from a wagering account or credit account, respectively, or otherwise allocating value (whether real or fictional) for play of the game. After the wager is made, place commences with the random selection of an game hand of cards for the player. This could take place through the random generation of one or more random numbers by a data processor, and selecting one or more playing cards mapped to those random number(s). Typically, the data representing the cards are not arranged in any order and are typically configured in a data string representing the cards of the deck in no particular order. In certain versions, the replacement cards may also be selected at the same time, although these are not displayed to the player with the game hand.
The five cards selected to the game hand are displayed in a straight row. The player, using an input device such as a touch screen on the game display, buttons on the a button panel, keyboard, mouse, or the like, selects which cards to hold (or conversely, which cards to discard), if any, from the game hand. The discarded cards are replaced in a display with a corresponding number of replacement cards. The final hand is formed by the held cards plus any replacement cards. The final hand is compared to a pay table of winning hands. Typically, the schedule of winning hands correlates the hands in conventional poker with a pay out. For example, in a game in which no wild cards are designated, a player with a hand ranked at Jacks or Better or higher would receive at least a return of the player's wager. If the player has a winning final hand, e.g. the player has a hand of Jacks or Better, the player is rewarded with a pay out based upon the player's wager. For example, in one common pay table, a hand containing a straight (non-suited cards of sequential rank) is rewarded at 4:1. If the player does not have a winning hand, the player's wager is retained by the game, that is, lost by the player.
There are many variations on conventional video poker. For example, wild cards may be designated such as in the well known games of Deuces Wild, Jokers Wild and Jokers and Deuces Wild. There are also variations in which a player may conduct multiple hands that use the same “held” cards and receive independently generated replacement cards such as that shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,823,873 to Moody, titled “Method of Playing Electronic Video Poker Games.”